In business management environments, especially in production and manufacturing processes, many tools are used to represent the activities involved in the processes that are used to perform a task or to create a product. These tools give managers insight into information, such as: details of individual activities, materials consumed, time spent, costs involved, products created, and a variety of other data necessary to understand, manage and improve the processes.
In a manufacturing process, such as, for example, a bicycle building process, it is desirable to represent the process used to build a product. To do this, two data structures are typically used. The first data structure is a Bill of Materials (BOM). The second data structure is a Routing. Both data structures are typically stored electronically, but can also be displayed in printed form.
The BOM data structure represents the component parts and end products that will be produced or used at steps in the production process. A BOM structure may take the form of a table, but is typically shown as a tree-shaped list. A BOM tree fans out from a top level product to show component and sub-component parts that the top level product is comprised of. For instance, with a top level product of a bicycle, example component parts shown as branches might be frames and seats. Sub-components shown as additional branches stemming from a frame component branch might be types of steel pipe. While sub-components shown as additional branches stemming from a seat component branch might be leather and foam padding. In some instances, a single BOM tree may be used to describe a bill of materials for an entire production process, such as the process of making bicycles. In other instances, many separate BOMs may be used to show bills of material for raw materials and component parts that are used in production of an end product, such as a bicycle.
The routing data structure describes or traces a path that that each part and end product will take through a production facility, such as between work stations and inventory locations. If multiple production sites or factories are involved in a production process, the routing will also trace part and product paths between production sites. Routing structures can be displayed as trees, but are more typically displayed as tables of rows and columns similar to those of a spread sheet. Routing structures contain information describing the activities performed on the parts listed in the BOM, such as: labor, machine time, or scheduling information related to a particular activity. A product routing may be described in a single routing data structure, or many smaller routing data structures.
BOM and routing structures are typically used by managers to plan logistics, costs, and production schedules for a manufacturing process. For instance, if a market exists for 1000 bicycles, a manager can determine, through analysis of these structures, where and when to produce the components of these bicycles so that the correct number of end products can be manufactured. Further analysis of these data structures can help a manufacturer determine how much a product will cost to produce, and where the costs are generated.
A third data structure type, called a process flow diagram, also exists. The process flow diagram visually displays steps in a process. Examples of such process flow diagrams include flow charts, Gant charts, and Pert charts. However process flow diagrams currently in use contain very little, if any, information used by managers. These process flow diagrams are instead typically used by process engineers and production schedulers to visually represent, design, and operate a process, rather than by managers who manage the process.
These separate data structures are useful, but have many drawbacks. For instance, it is very difficult to see all parts of a process at once, as the components and activities are represented in at least two, and sometimes many more separate data structures. Further, even if all parts can be seen at once it can be challenging to visualize a process flow from data tables and tree structures. Another drawback is that different disciples such as managing and engineering rely on different structures to describe the same process. Further, because different data structures exist, it is hard to correlate the information during planning. It is also difficult to keep the information in sync when the process is running. These difficulties in correlating and syncing data can lead to mistakes which negatively impact cost, schedule, and performance of a process. It is also very difficult to improve a process when it cannot be visualized in its entirety.